73 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
73 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Sonata Shambhala
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slug: sonata-shambhala
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instrumentation: For solo piano.
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premiere: November 11, 2018, at Marlboro College, Brattleboro, Vermont.
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score: https://jessebrault.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/scores/sonata-shambhala.pdf
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externalLinks:
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'Benjamin Hochman Discusses Sonata Shambhala': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leyqMdGyr8Q
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description: Written for Benjamin Hochman and based upon The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa, Sonata Shambhala meditates upon the books themes of personal spiritual development.
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shortInfo: Based upon <em>The Sacred Path of the Warrior</em> by Chögyam Trungpa.
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date: 2018-09-01
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categories:
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- Solo
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---
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This work is a musical response to _Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior_ by Chögyam Trungpa,
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a book which was recommended to me by a dear family-relative of mine in the spring of 2017.
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At the time, I was in a routine involving waking up very early in the morning and reading
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by the morning sunlight until it was time for breakfast. Reading the words of this book
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in such a setting was deeply inspiring, and it was not long after that I proposed the idea of
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composing an extended solo piano piece in reflection of the book to my dear friend Benjamin Hochman.
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Over a year's worth of labor later, I produced the score for him, and Mr. Hochman premiered
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the work at Marlboro College near Brattleboro, VT, on November 11, 2018, with performances following
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in Seattle, WA, and Ghent, NY. Around this time, Rinchen Llamo, a friend of Mr. Hochman and a
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former-student of Trungpa himself, sponsored the final labor of composing this piece,
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and I am deeply grateful to her for her support.
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In this work, I have not sought to depict the teachings of the book literally in the music,
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but rather to reflect musically my own feelings, experiences, and thoughts upon encountering
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and meditating upon them. Below are quotes from the book that I found particularly relevant
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to each movement after composing the work as a whole:
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I. _Kingdom Visions (Chaconne)_
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> When you awaken your heart, you find, to your surprise, that your heart is empty.
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> You find that you are looking into outer space.
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> What are you, who are you, where is your heart? ...
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> If you search for your awakened heart, if you put your hand through your rib cage
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> and feel for it, there is nothing there except for tenderness. You feel sore and soft,
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> and if you open your eyes to the rest of the world, you feel tremendous sadness. ...
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> It occurs because your heart is completely exposed. ...
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> For the warrior, this experience of sadness gives birth to fearlessness.
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> (pp. 31–32)
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II. _Warrior's Path_
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> The Great Eastern Sun is a rising sun ... it represents the dawning, or awakening of human dignity—
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> the rising of human warriorship. It is based on celebrating life. ... It is based on seeing that
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> there is a natural source of radiance and brilliance in the world—
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> which is the innate wakefulness of human beings. (pp. 43–45)
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III. _Pilgrimage – Ascent – Kingdom_
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> That mind of fearfulness<br />
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> Should be put in the cradle of loving-kindness<br />
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> And suckled with the profound and brilliant milk of eternal doubtlessness.<br />
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> In the cool shade of fearlessness,<br />
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> Fan it with the fan of joy and happiness.<br />
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> When it grows older,<br />
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> With various displays of phenomena,<br />
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> Lead it to the self-existing playground.<br />
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> When it grows older still,<br />
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> In order to promote primordial confidence,<br />
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> Lead it to the archery range of warriors.<br />
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> When it grows older still,<br />
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> To awaken primordial self-nature,<br />
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> Let it see the society of men<br />
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> Which possess beauty and dignity.<br />
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> Then the fearful mind<br />
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> Can change into the warrior’s mind,<br />
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> And that eternally youthful confidence<br />
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> Can expand into space without beginning or end.<br />
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> At that point it sees the Great Eastern Sun.<br />
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> (p. 91)
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